Sunday, June 25, 2006

Remember the supposed offer the Kings made for Roberto Luongo? It was Alex Frolov, Dustin Brown, and Mathieu Garon.

Holy goalkeepers, Batman! According to ESPN and the Ottawa Sun, Lombardi offered that to Doug Wilson to try and bring Evgeni Nabokov (whom he drafted way back when he was John Nabokov) to LA. Wilson reportedly turned it down because he didn't want to ship to an in-division rival.

If that was me, division be damned, I'm pulling the trigger. Yes, Nabokov could pull another Kipprusoff and bite you in the butt, don't you think Lombardi would be thinking the same way about Frolov and Brown? It's a risk for both teams, but I would think that would be a very calculated risk on San Jose's end. Can you imagine Frolov on the left side with Cheechoo and Thornton? Brown's a promising young player as well and could potentially be repackaged for some defensive help.

Just look at Calgary and Colorado -- in-division rivals who realize that due to the nature of the CBA, trading within the division is sometimes a necessary evil when it produces results.

Apparently, the Leafs tried to put together a package for Nabokov but took themselves out of the running when Wilson's price was too high and instead opted for a reclamation project in Andrew Raycroft. Ottawa reportedly offered Martin Havlat for Vesa Toskala straight up, but that's not something I'd go for give Havlat's contentious contract situation.

It does seem that the goalie situation is going to produce a major acquisition for the Sharks, though. I just hope Wilson isn't holding out for too much, then winds up letting all of the good deals fall through.